After doing some COVID 19 apocalyptic shopping in the morning we went to lunch at Slackwater Pub and Pizzeria, Ogden Utah. The pizza is all personal size and not your regular pizza. I had the “This is Sparta”. It is sausage, feta, artichoke, and kalamata olives with a olive oil and garlic base.
There food is wonderful.
After we headed up Weber Canyon on I-84. Weber Canyon cuts through the Wasatch Mountains to the Wasatch Back. The landscape changes to red rock, smaller hills, open fields, sagebrush, meadows with grasses and rock outcrops. The towns are small, quaint, scenic, and a drive through is relaxing.
We stopped in Morgan at the Browning Outlet and then on to East Canyon State Park. East Canyon has a small reservoir is is great to fish, boat, day recreate or to camp. They have yurts and covered wagons to rent for overnight stays along with regular camp sites. They also have public showers to make cleaning up after a day of playing in the water.
The road is windy, with sharp curves and limited maintenance in the winter. The lake was still covered with ice, however we look close to summer when we can boat and fish on the lake. We came up using the road from Morgan and back down by the road to Henefer.
At Henefer, we rejoined I-84 and travel passed Echo Reservoir. It also still was covered by ice but it is starting to separate from the shore. The Echo Junction State Park has been newly renovated to improve access, services, and the overall experience.
The Historic Union Pacific Rail Trail is a recreational trail which follows and old abandoned rail line. It has been improved and runs 28 miles from Echo Reservoir to Park City.
Our ultimate goal was to go to Rockport State Park. At Echo Junction we turned toward Salt Lake on to I-80 South. We passed Coalville and at Wanship left the freeway following the signs for a short drive to Rockport Reservoir. We have never been to Rockport so we were scouting for the upcoming summer. We are always looking for areas we can travel a short distance from our home to boat, fish, and swim.
As we turned off the main road into Rockport State Park my son yell out, “COUGAR!” I looked to the left and right into the brush and willow and almost ran into the cougar with my car. It was in my lane in the road. It looked from us to the truck coming the opposite directions down the road and turned and ran into the willows/river bottoms. Sorry it happened so quickly and we all were in shock so no pictures were taken. It is the first time any of us has seen a cougar in the wild. The other driver a government employee commented as I passed through our open window, “it’s not often you almost run over a cougar.”
We entered the State Park and looked at the different campgrounds spread around the Reservoir. It is a quiet and peaceful Reservoir. As we travelled back home we passed many fields with deer grazing on the new shoots which are emerging. We also saw a Bald Eagle on the ice of Rockport Reservoir. We will definitely be back with hopes that the cougar/mountain lion will travel away from the campgrounds and farther into the mountains. We did see a DNR Officer coming in to talk to the truck.
As we stopped at the Outpost to check our tire pressure and refuel we noticed they have dressed their dinosaur up as a leprechaun. This makes me want to see if they continue with ever holiday. I live the detail from the beard, kilt, hat, down to the pot of gold.
As we travelled back home back through Weber Canyon we passed Devil’s Slide. I have always enjoyed the unique geological feature. Devil’s Slide is two parallel Limestone features which stand out vertically on the mountain side. The stand about 40 feet out of the mountain side. It makes a feature that looks like a slide only the devil would ride due to how steep and rough the feature appears. As a kid passing the feature, I dreamed about making it into a water slide with moss thick enough on the bottom to make it safe and slippery. Obviously I was more worried about my bottom getting scratched than how fast I would travel or where it would end.
We made it safely home with a great experience and new story. Always expect the unexpected when you day trip. It may be something amazing like seeing a cougar, Bear or eagle close up or it could be seeing a moment when the clouds part and show a window to the sky. It could also be a peaceful moment when you sit and listen to the sounds of nature or find a beautiful flower. Our daily lives will always have amazing moments if we stop and look around.
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